The First Readers’ Choice Results of 2013
Well, that was quick. Before the Times Union poll even has a chance to ask its readers the questions, Metroland is already back with their answers. I expect the Troy Record to publish their Readers’ Choice picks tomorrow.
But today in the midst of plenty of head scratching, we have some pretty sweet news. While some people are celebrating, we might need to be talking others down from a ledge. Or maybe failure to place isn’t an indictment on a local establishment, but rather a reflection of our unique local culture.
Frankly, I’m having a hard time sussing it out myself. I keep vacillating between the extreme notions that:
a) Clearly I have had some influence on these results, and
b) Obviously I have no influence on these results at all
How could that possibly be? I’ll lay it out for you using a little bit of data.
How Bad Could It Possibly Be
Mrs. Fussy suggested that yesterday’s post might have suffered a bit from the influence of my cold medicine. So today I’m going to try and write as little as possible. My plan had been to present three shocking but true food news stories from around the world without any comment.
But when’s the last time I was able to let something go without comment?
When Liquid Candy & Liquid Food Collide
Water people. Drink water. Most of us live in homes with good, safe, clean water supplies and with pipes unaffected by lead or other nastiness. So by water, I mean tap water. Maybe your water isn’t great. Then you should get a filter, and drink filtered tap water.
Find a nice unlined metal bottle to bring your water along with you on the road. For all that is good and holy, please stop filling and refilling disposable plastic water bottles. They are a bacterial nightmare. Especially when there are folks at the office who aren’t good at refilling them without touching their saliva encrusted mouthpiece to the communal water cooler spigot.
Besides water, non-alcoholic beverages generally fall into one of three categories: liquid candy, liquid food, or chemical goo. That last is reserved for all the artificially zero or reduced calorie beverages out there. And don’t tell me for an instant that Stevia is natural. I saw a box of organic Stevia on a supermarket shelf and I almost had an aneurism.
We’ve talked about soda being liquid candy before. Liquid food might be a newer concept.
Health and Happiness
Do you remember what supposed to happen last Friday? I had an appointment to review the results of my latest cholesterol test with my doctor.
Just to back up a bit for those who might not be reading the FLB every day (which is pretty much everybody except for Mrs. Fussy–and even she misses a day or two now and then). Many many months ago my doctor wanted to see my cholesterol numbers go down. To be fair, I had been eating like a bit of a jerk, so I wasn’t surprised they were elevated.
So after postponing the re-test until after the Tournament of Pizza and then postponing it again after the trip to Paris and the holidays, I finally found a stretch of three months where I could behave. So from the end of December to the beginning of March I truly dedicated myself to a draconian existence of oatmeal, flax seeds, brown rice, vegan sandwiches, the seitan Super Bowl, and a whole lot of beans. This meant giving up butter, cheese, fried foods, refined grains, and meat almost entirely.
I remember telling somebody here that I would share the results when I got them. You’re going to kill me.
Seasonal Veggies and Ice Cream
It’s hard to say what I’m most excited about as I foolishly contemplate the coming spring. I say foolishly because it’s likely going to take a while to get here. All I can say is that I’m glad I didn’t take the snow tires off the car this week.
How crazy is it that the Snowman in Troy will open up the day after Little Miss Fussy was dreaming of building a snowman of her own from the big fat flakes falling from the sky. You know what’s also crazy? The Roxbury CSA hasn’t sold out in the Capital Region yet. That means you stragglers who thought you might be locked out of this amazing farm share are in luck. Here’s the note I got from the farmers:
There are still shares available at all sites in the Capital District, but a few sites are close to full . . . make sure not to miss out – send in your form now! You can find the enrollment forms on the website www.roxburyfarm.com under ‘CSA Membership’ and ‘Capital District’.
I’m already thinking about grilling the wild ramps this year and eating them all myself, long before CSA season kicks in. And I’ve got a fresh new blade on the Cuisinart that is hungry to pulverize some scapes into a verdant puree. But my spring fantasies can come to life earlier in the form of the re-opening of our season ice cream stands.
Speaking of which, this would make a great time to answer addiesdad’s question about local ice cream.
This Weekend Brought To You By…
Trouble is brewing. I’ve got a sore throat. This isn’t a mild annoyance type of malady. It’s a wake me up from deep slumber in the middle of the night kind of thing.
Nothing wakes me up in the middle of the night. I’m a seriously solid sleeper.
So there is a slight change of plans. I will not be going over to Leah the Nosher’s house later today to make borscht for Sunday’s Jewish Food Festival. It looks like she will be making it without me, so I can rest up and stand behind the Jewish Food Bloggers table with her on Sunday. While she’s dishing out samples of her soup I will dole out dollops of sour cream made from Meadow Brook Farms’ dairy by Britin Foster of All Good Bakers.
I’m going to enjoy highlighting the differences between her sour cream and conventionally produced versions that generally pass for this decadent treat at supermarkets in the region.
The Jewish Food Festival is sponsored by Price Chopper, and seriously, Ben & Bill’s pastrami is always a highlight of the festivities for me. But they aren’t the only supermarket chain that has a food event this weekend. The good news is that you can probably attend both.
AskTP – Blissful Ignorance
There’s a lot of living to be done in one week. That’s the amount of time I have from when my blood was drawn until I see my doctor. Then I’ll learn how effective my draconian three month diet was at improving the state of my cholesterol. Granted, I did a fair bit of damage in advance of the diet. However, in the end I made it back down to my high school weight.
So last night I ate two poached eggs. I know. Living on the edge. Believe it or not, some of the healthy habits I picked up over the last twelve weeks are hard to kill off. Yesterday for lunch I had pan fried oatmeal with flax seeds by choice.
Speaking of old habits, there’s this thing I do every two weeks where I answer all the collected questions readers asked in the comments of the blog. A few questions get answered in a timely fashion. The others, they kind of hang around until this roundup called Ask the Profussor. And just so long as you used a question mark in the comment, it will get answered.
Now without any further ado, onto the questions.
In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lion
This is when winter in upstate New York gets tricky. It’s the time of year when one expects it to be spring, but it’s not quite yet spring. I’m toying with the idea of taking the snow tires off the car.
Even removing the weather aspect, this March is going to be madness. But to get the full scope of this month I’m going to have to back up a couple of days.
Dispatches From the Supermarket Wars
Does anyone else besides me read those supermarket flyers that get stuffed in mailboxes on Saturday? I find the visual language of those broadsheets to be maddening. It’s like the supermarkets are inviting all of their category managers into my house at one time, and all of them are trying to talk over each other. Some are shouting out loud, while others are mumbling something softly into their chests.
Where are all of the good designers when you need them?
A reasonable person would just throw these offensive documents in the recycling bin and not bother with trying to decode them or, even worse, cross-compare them against competing grocery stores. But I’m not really that smart. And besides, there are some fascinating nuggets of information you can learn by doing a little investigative spelunking.
Riesling, Gewurz, Pinot Noir & Sekt
Congratulations to Theresa518. She was the lucky winner in yesterday’s giveaway, and will be coming with me to the Charles F. Lucas Confectionery & Wine Bar in Troy on Monday to taste a whole mess of German wines and meet the winemakers behind them.
The good news is that tickets are still available, and they are only $25.
If you are in the area and free on Monday from 6pm to 8pm you should totally come. While Italian winemakers really shaped the face of wine in California, here in New York our Finger Lakes vineyards are fantastic at growing Germanic varietals.
I blame the language barrier and some fairly complicated labeling and classification guidelines for the lack of more broad knowledge of German wines in America. Your reasons may vary. But the best way to learn about wine is by tasting it. Having access to the passionate people who made the wine doesn’t hurt either.
And on Monday these winemakers will be samlping fifteen different wines. But who are they? And what am I most excited to taste? Well Vic sent me over some of the details to pour over.
Hope you are thirsty.
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